


Mountaintop Vacation

by Garchomp445



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Gen, Inaccurate mountain climbing, Summer, pegasi! wyverns!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-07 21:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20467586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Garchomp445/pseuds/Garchomp445
Summary: Innes, at the height of summer, has decided to climb an entire mountain. He must have the will to survive against the pounding sun.Written for Jay, cookie-flavoured on tumblr





	Mountaintop Vacation

Innes grunted. The sun beat down on him, and he had long run out of water. Still, his goal was in sight. He could see it, practically taste it. The mountaintop ahead mocked him. He shook his hand in rage, a furious emotion that expressed his drive, his determination. Halfway up the mountain, and sitting calmly on her wyvern, Tana shouted,

“Hey, do you want some water? It’s really refreshing!” She mimed drinking out of her waterskin, “I didn’t drink from this one, don’t worry.”

He huffed, “I’ll survive.”

“Wrong! You won’t! It’s like the height of summer.” Tana went from smiling to frowning very quickly, “I’m just going to leave some water here, pretend that you wrestled it from the mountain.”

Innes shook his head. He couldn’t exactly turn down the charity, but Tana didn’t need to rub it in. The waterskin went onto his belt loop.

Most of the mountain was gravelly walls and unstable paths. Not enough for him to have to haul himself up, but not so easy he could just walk. He relaxed for a second and nearly slipped. This would be a nightmare in the rain. Even halfway up the mountain, there was still a variety of plant and animal life. A tiny bird sat down on a bush. Innes fought the urge to shoo it away. There were tons of bushes, and it picked the one closest to him? How presumptuous.

Distracted by the bird, Innes missed the next handhold. He scrambled for a handhold. Instead, he pulled at a gravel wall and collapsed it on himself. Tiny rocks pelted him, and he rolled into the bush. It only collapsed enough to poke him with a dozen tiny branches. A few thin roots was all that kept it on the mountain. Innes eased his way off. He sat in place for a bit, and decided to take a short rest.

True to her word, Tana’s water was rather refreshing. Likely only because Innes hadn’t drought anything since this morning. He cursed his own stupidity.

Seconds later, hooves clattered on the mountainside. He nearly leapt back into the bush. A dignified, soft voice wafted over,

“Prince Innes. Princess Tana implored me to deliver another waterskin to you.” Vanessa closed her eyes, “Along with a message I was told to deliver.”

“Of course. Did she give you the message on her way down the mountain?”

“Yes. Could you see us from here?”

Innes narrowed his eyes, “I didn’t need to. Anyway. On with the message.”

“It reads:” Vanessa coughed, “I apologize for Tana’s coarse language.”

Innes’ eye twitched.

“You block-headed bull! If you require coddling, then I will not deliver it. Ask-” Vanessa stopped, “I apologize again, this is very hard to make out.”

“It’s no issue.” Innes held out his hand, “Could I read it myself?”

“Oh, of course.” Vanessa handed over the letter.

“(PS: read this in the most mocking tone you can manage.) You block-headed bull! If you require coddling, then I will not deliver it. Ask Vanessa to retrieve you once your legs fail. What forced you to climb this mountain in the summer? Could you not wait for a more fortuitous season?”

Innes sighed. He said, “Tell Tana that Ephraim climbed this mountain just a fortnight ago. That is my reason for this feat.”

Vanessa stared at Innes, “Truly?”

“Yes. Also, thank her for the water.” Innes mulled over his position, “It was thoughtful of the two of you to assist me.”

“It’s no trouble at all. We simply added this location to a practice run.”

Innes nodded, “I’m glad I wasn’t any additional hassle.”

“In fact, some of the new recruits were excited to meet you. They’ll be here in about two hours.”

Innes was sweating, and not just from the overhead sun, “I see.”

“Ah, I apologize, that should’ve been the first thing I mentioned. Good day, prince Innes.”

“Good day to you as well.”

It wasn’t often that he trained with the pegasus knights. He prefered to assist the armoured knights, calvary and archers. Not because he was scared of heights, of course. That’d be ridiculous. Innes turned around and continued up the mountain.

It had taken him little over an hour to reach the half-way point, he could easily reach the top before the recruits arrive. Assuming no other literal slip-ups, of course. His grip was sure, and he placed his boots with more care than before. It helped to think of it as a race.

The mountainside had an amazing gradient on the side, layers of rock revealed on the cliffside. Innes was taking a much less treacherous path, one that trees and brush had softened for him. They also served as reasonable handholds.

A few minutes of climbing later, and Innes was done. The top of the mountain didn’t end in a neat peak, it nearly had a flat top. There were a few flimsy terraces, and absolutely no space for a pegasus to land. He sat down on a rock and watched the massive landscape around him. To the south was Renais, recently restored by Eirika and Ephraim. Their territory was mountainous, with distant forests and small rivers. He vastly preferred Frelia, their long fields and sandy coasts were much more pleasant. From this vantage point, Renais castle was visible. New banners and restored roof tiles adorned the citadel. They had done fantastic work. It was part of the reason Innes felt jealous.

Compared to Ephraim, Innes had undergone no great projects of his own. The tower of Valni still needed to be cleared of monsters and restored, but he had to rely on Eirika and Ephraim to rally their previous allies. Innes had invaded it with the Frelian army, but retreated before suffering great losses. On just the second floor, they had been ambushed by a dozen centaurs. Gillaim blocked their blows with his body, Tana lunged into the fray like a wild animal, and Innes had done everything he could to whittle their numbers down. Even with all their efforts, they came out bruised and bloody. Ephraim found the time to climb a mountain.

There was a distinct wingbeat just behind Innes. A wyvern’s muscular frame alighted on the mountain, then it let out a low rumbling noise. Tana was struggling to find purchase on the peak. Innes stated,

“Just land further down.”

Tana groaned, “You’re right.” She left with another loud flap.

Innes shouted, “When are the recruits arriving?”

“Much later! I thought it’d take you longer!”

“So I have time to flee.”

“What did you say?” Tana’s voice was slightly muffled. She was climbing up the peak. Innes waited for her to join him.

“I’ll be able to leave before they arrive.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“Is this really the best place to practice?”

Tana smiled, “Nope, it’s difficult in every way. Which makes it perfect. I have Vanessa to guide them in, and they’ve been practicing rough landings.” She cocked her head to the side, “Would you like to know what the main draw is?”

“What would that be?”

“You.” Innes coughed on his waterskin. “I know, it sounds crazy.”

“That’s very rude, Tana.” 

She laughed. “You were the one who wanted to run away! Is that not a noble enough reason to stay?”

“You’re right.”

“As soon as I mentioned that you were climbing this mountain, that was enough motivation. One recruit even mentioned that she’d beat you to the top!”

Innes smiled, “I did have a considerable head start.” They both settled into the warm rock. There was a complete lack of wind. “I suppose you’ll be joining them, soon?”

“Nay, I brought my wyvern so we could hide under her wings. There’s no cloud cover at all.”

“Very true. Shall we make the trek down?”

Tana leapt to her feet, then offered a hand to Innes, “After you!”

Innes rolled his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> it took me a while to find inspiration for this piece, but i'm glad that i did! hope you enjoy!


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